Name your YOGA

With so many types of yoga out there, it's hard to say which one to practice.  I have always found ashtanga and hatha styles appealing, mostly because they have been assimilated into North American culture.  My body craves short, sharp bursts of energy.  So, yoga has been my balance effect.  My cleanse.  Now, I find I choose to sprinkle some Nia in there as well.  It really rejuvenates my spirit.

This is the yoga I'm dying to try.  Antigravity yoga.


source:  lululemon on YouTube

Stretching your body.  Stretching your trust.  Stretching your imagination.  Stretching your limits.

Stretch.

signed, the willow

Nia Bo-Bia, Shanana-Bana-Po-Pia, Nia!

The past two weeks, I have been sneaking off to a Nia class in Hamilton.



click {here} to read who & where



Laura, a friend from *Mila's* old school, is the instructor.  She's got a natural knack for this relatively new way of moving one's body.  It's described as Nia (neuromuscular integrated action):

Nia is a sensory-based movement practice that leads to health, wellness and fitness. It empowers people of all shapes and sizes by connecting the body, mind, emotions and spirit. Classes are taken barefoot to soul-stirring music in more than 45 countries. Trainings are designed for those seeking personal enrichment and professional development. Every experience can be adapted to individual needs and abilities. Step into your own joyful journey with Nia, and positively shape the way you feel, look, think and live.  (source:  Nia Now)

source:  niawellness

You can read all you want at Laura's site or the Nia Now site.  The expected response is going to be "Oh, it's like yoga!"  Sure, logical.  I brought my yoga mat.  Don't fret.  But I got so much more.  Dance steps.  Stretches.  Kenpo punches. (insert my Viking heart here)  Booty shaking.  Spirituality.  Enlightenment.  Insightfulness.  Introspective.  Aha, see where I'm going?  No, not to Yoga!  I love yoga, don't get me wrong.  But, Nia offered me so much more.  A chance to pop out a "no" while I punched the air. (insert more Viking heart here)  An opportunity to throw out the trash of my daily life.  A practice for me.  A giggle.  An expression of me.   

Oh, hello there "Me".  How have you been?  

I felt alive, a sweat had broken, with no pain.  A relaxed rejuvenation.  I was genuinely rejuvenated.  Enough to come home and suffer the pain of wall squats with Tony Horton's P90X after.  Nia offered me no pain.  Nia offered me satisfaction.  And so, I'll continue with Nia.  She's a good friend.

It was nice to get out and try something new.  Will you join us?  

signed, the willow

A mannequin like no other

Christy Turlington mannequins.

signed, the willow

Billy Blanks punched my TV

Billy Blanks was in my living room punching the air inside my tv. *Mila* wanted to do yoga. As I watched her jump and wriggle I knew that trying to sit quietly and stretch my gluteus maximus in downward facing dog while she lay underneath me kicking my uterus was not a good idea. I don't need the uterus or anything. I just don't get a lot out of yoga with someone kicking me. Rodney Yee doesn't kick me. So, I stuck in a Billy Blanks video. Jump. Punch. Kick. Hop. Tae Bo yourself to bits, girl! *Mila* became more frustrated than a first time adult watching Billy Blanks. I started to think that sun salutations would have been easier for her. She didn't get anything out of Tae Bo other than "it's okay to punch and kick the air". Her energy level has not diminished. In fact it wound her up like a ball of energy. So she found a chopstick in the drawer and is now a maestro conducting her orchestra. Suma and I are the orchestra and I'm not sure what we are supposed to do. I think that its amusing when I jump around and dance, Suma jumps up on her wimpy legs and dances with me. When *Mila* does it, Suma's eyes roll to the back of her head and she sleeps the whole thing off. That's what I'd like to do today, roll my eyes towards the back of my head and repeat the chant Om Mani Ped Ne Hum until I sleep for 12 continuous hours. Somehow, I could only picture a chopstick piercing through my skull as I started the first Om. Next time, I'm going to leash the entire family up to the treadmill and force everyone to run 10 K.

signed, the willow.

Doesn't Ikea sell a doggie bed?

An open letter to Suma the dog:

Oh Suma! Good God. Why must you sleep between my feet all night long? You keep me up longer and more frequently than the 3 year old *Mila*. You get up and off the bed 100 times a night and now you seem to love me more than *Steve* and find it cozier between my feet. See, here's the problemo dog: I am only 5'4" tall and thus my legs are short. Therefore, spreading my feet apart to fit your 50 lb body between them turns my posture into the Extended Triangle Pose. Why? You spend your entire days sleeping on the couch in the family room and if you can you find a way on the living room couch. I've found you in *Mila's* bed in the middle of the afternoon and even on my bed all day. So, with so many options for sleeping arrangements, you still choose my bed with my feet around you? I'll still take you for a walk and you'll still get your cookies today. Is that why? Is that why you are staring at me right now waiting and waiting? Why don't you finagle your way into my feet right now? Ah, because you're tired too and you must sleep now? By the way, this picture of you on my blog is you in the middle of a big yawn. So I guess you are not getting your rest either. Well, rest up because Stinky Wizzleteets will be here for Yaksmas very soon!

signed, the willow

Subliminal Advertising

Just as I thought "Bob the Builder" is sending subliminal messages through this 27 inch tube TV. Farmer Pickles said something to the effect of "DRINK RED BULL AND EAT MANY SUGARY ITEMS, THEN JUMP AROUND LIKE THIS AND TOSS, TOSS, TOSS YOURSELF ONTO THE FLOOR. THUD! THUMP!" Or maybe it was Dora?

There was a yoga mat out today and it became an instant attraction to put on a leotard and a larger than life tutu. See, we wear tutus in our house when we do yoga. No lululemon for us, we use ballet wear.

I found yet another unfinished project and I use it for inspiration. It's posted above my computer and it is meant to inspire me. But it's not finished. It has pencil lines and missing brush strokes. Somehow, it speaks to me and I love it. Blue is usually the dead giveaway. If the shade and tone of the blue are to my liking, it will be something I will never part with.



signed, the willow